Publicans “can’t afford not to” pass a major brewer’s price hike to customers, they said yesterday.
Guinness maker Diageo announced increases a fortnight ago that industry experts calculate will add on 25 cent to the price of a pint of stout. Drinkers fear it means a Guinness could top €8 in some pubs in Dublin city centre areas popular with tourists.
Wicklow landlord Paul Moynihan is president of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland and warned: “Publicans cannot withstand these increases. Prices are going through the roof. We cannot not pass on these increases.”
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The VFI has more than 4,000 members outside of the greater Dublin area who employ around 40,500 workers. Cork VFI chair Michael O’Donovan refused to pass on brewers’ previous price rises, but told Dublin live “it just can’t be done this time”.
Diageo pledged last November not to increase its costs for the rest of 2022 but then revealed on January 10 a new 12 cent minimum hike from February 1. The company claimed it had withheld increases amid the ongoing cost of living crisis but said it had absorbed cost increases “for as long as possible”.
It claimed inflation means its products’ price will increase from next month and will add 12 cent to the price of a pint, excluding VAT. According to publicans, it cost €7.60 for a pint of Guinness in some pubs in Dublin last March and €7.95 in the city in October.
Heineken announced two months ago that its prices would rise by an estimated 17c to 25c on December 1 due to “unprecedented cost increases”. Mr Moynihan is the third generation of his family to run Moynihan’s pub in Donard, Co Wicklow, since his grandfather bought it in the 1940s.
Yesterday he told Dublin Live: “Diageo’s increase of 12 cent, plus VAT, is probably double the normal increases that we are used to absorbing. There’s no way publicans will not be able to pass on this price increase.
“There might be the odd one, but it’s so difficult now that I think all publicans will have to [pass it on]. Costs are going through the roof. The public is aware of that, but we are still doing our best to offer value to our customers. They are having a tough time, too.”
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Mr O’Donovan , who owns the Castle Inn on South Main Street, Cork, said: “We have had energy prices going up 300% since last summer. Publicans are trying to run a business but we know our customers are being squeezed at home and at work.
“Unfortunately, we have to pass on these price increases. Speaking to lots of my colleagues across the country, they are all struggling. We are trying to survive. It’s a very tough time for everyone. Last year, I didn’t put up the prices, but it just can’t be done this time.”
The Licensed Vintners’ Federation, which represents pubs in Dublin, does “not comment on pricing matters”. A spokesperson for the LVA told Dublin Live: “As a trade association, competition rules prevent the LVA from having any role in relation to pricing.”
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